Bowing Japanese elevator girls greeted customers at the Selfridges department store in London on Monday as the company launched a monthlong celebration of Tokyo culture.

British customers will certainly note the changes at Selfridges -- most department stores in Britain do not have gallery spaces and performance art and the concept of elevator girls died out in the 1950s due to automation.

Selfridges are now deploying 20 elevator girls -- Japanese women studying in Britain -- dressed in special pink uniforms greeting customers and helping operate the elevator and information desks.

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